GMA legal strategists may move to inhibit magistrates from case

Saying that a rejection of former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s motion to dismiss the plunder charge against her was the last straw, a lawyer for the incumbent Pampanga solon vowed to convince anew her legal team to consider stronger legal moves to better ensure a fair resolution of the case against her.

Requesting anonymity, the Arroyo legal counsel said the Sandiganbayan has consistently rejected Arroyo’s motions for bail and dismissal of the case even as they ignore observations by legal experts about the leniency the anti-graft court had accorded her supposed coconspirators in the plunder case.

The counsel said filing motions for inhibition of certain court magistrates and motions for reconsideration on Arroyo petitions rejected by the Sandiganbayan should be filed before the Supreme Court (SC).

He said the line of reasoning of the decision penned by Associate Justice Rafael Lagos should be studied carefully, not only by Arroyo lawyers but by students of law, as well.

“In this case, to require proof that monies went to a plunderer’s bank account or was used to acquire real or personal properties or used for any other purpose to personally benefit the plunderer, is absurd,” the ruling penned by Lagos stated.

“Suppose a plunderer had already illegally amassed, acquired or accumulated 50 million or more of government funds and just decided to keep it in his vault and never used such funds for any purpose to benefit him, would that not be plunder? Or if immediately right after such amassing, the monies went up in flames or recovered by the police, negating any opportunity for the person to actually benefit, would that not still be plunder? Surely, in such cases, a plunder charge could still prosper,” the decision read.

Earlier, Buhay Party-list Rep. Lito Atienza lashed at the Aquino administration’s alleged continued adherence to “selective justice” by persecuting political foes and non-allies.

Atienza said “selective justice” being espoused by Malacañang makes the President’s “Daang Matuwid” policy a farce.

On the other hand, lawyer Larry Gadon said the Arroyo legal team has taken into serious consideration the views aired by retired Sandiganbayan presiding justice Edilberto Sandoval on the possibility of the former chief executive being granted bail by the SC.